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Work The System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less, Third Edition, guides the reader in modifying his or her fundamental perception of the world, moving from an inaccurate vision of barely controlled chaos, to a more accurate one: that life is an orderly collection of individual linear systems each of which can be improved and perfected one at a time. The reader is guided through the process of ''getting'' this new vision, and then through the specifics of applying it via Carpenter's "system improvement" methodology.

For start-ups or multinationals, the methodology is simple, believable, and mechanical; not mystical or theoretical. Carpenter developed the "systems mindset" protocol in the business he purchased in 1984 and still owns today. With that company, he moved from an 80-100 hour workweek to a one hour workweek, while multiplying his income dozens of times. He is CEO of an international business consulting firm, and several other spin-off businesses, as well as an international non-profit, all of which are operated in the same systems mindset fashion. With a diverse background in engineering, construction and business management, publishing, telecommunications, journalism, and politics, he calls his approach a "workingman's philosophy." See workthesystem.com.

Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less will show the business owner how to achieve a positive macro result by looking at business and work on a micro level; by analyzing and refining the separate internal sub-systems, the systems that, added together, comprise the whole primary system business entity. Readers will learn how to "tweak" this "system of systems" in order to maximize profits, create client loyalty, and develop autonomous employees.

See reader testimonials at workthesystem.com/testimonials.

In an unusual publishing arrangement, Carpenter gives away his unabridged book in both PDF and audible formats via his website workthesystem.com. This adversely affects Amazon, NY Times, etc. book sales ratings but meets his objective of wide distribution. The book is also available in hard copy in multiple languages including Chinese, Russian, and Japanese.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

''Sam Carpenter has brought all the main principles that will lead to success in your work and life together in one book. Some books will change your mind this book will change your life if you apply what it teaches. The author shows that our entire world operates based on systems, from nature to the human body to successful businesses.''--Steve Burns, Amazon Top 1000 reviewer

''Better than Good to Great, the next Best Seller Business Book.''--GLR, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer. 5 stars

From the Author

Work the System's main thrust goes beyond providing new information, although it does that. The root purpose of Work the System is to guide you to a new way of perceiving your life so you can gain better command of it and therefore be better able to get what you want.

There will be a mechanical adjustment in the way you see your world, and when this profound shift occurs, systems Methodology will make irrefutable sense, and your work and life will never be the same. I like to call this mini-awakening getting it, and I describe what it is and how to achieve it in Part One.

The Nutshell Premise? Your life is a collection of individual systems.

To whom is this book intended? It's for anyone who runs a business, from the founder of a brand new mom-and-pop start-up to the seasoned CEO of a multinational. At either extreme and in-between, the tenets apply uniformly because life's fundamental mechanics work the same, all the time, everywhere. This is about acquiring a better view of reality's universal simple mechanics; to viewing the machinations of your world with more precision.

Top customer reviews

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I rarely take the time to write a review here, but I feel I should do so in order to provide an alternative view to the glowing reviews. The Executive Summary is that this is an enjoyable read and will introduce you to a valuable idea, but there's not enough information here to actually implement it.

The book is largely a personal story of how the author turned his business around from something he was putting 80+ hours a week into (and still always on the verge of collapse) to a thriving entity that he only needs to tweak now with a handful of hours. His key insight came on the eve of near-certain failure when he realized he needed to stop working "in" his business and shift to working "on" it. He recognized that developing systems and processes would empower his employees to do the work consistent with his vision. The result is a very healthy company, a happy founder, and happy employees.

The book is enjoyable to read and the author makes a persuasive argument for why every business should be run this way. The way to go about doing this is to create three guiding documents: the Strategic Objective, General Operating Principles, and Working Procedures. Once these are in place, a rigid adherence and occasional modification are all that is needed. The author adds that this methodology can also be used if you are an employee (instead of a business owner) and even in your personal life (although Working Procedures are not needed in this case).

That's the good news. The bad is that there really isn't any instruction given on *how* one would create these all-important documents. It's just the same message over and over: you need to do this. The entire book is dedicated to convincing you that you have a problem and that he has the solution. Want to apply this solution to your own business and/or life? That's where the author's array of coaching, software, and speaking engagements come in, all helpfully described in the numerous appendices.

In fairness, he does provide the documents he developed for his company in the appendices for you to use as a template (or inspiration). So, if you own a telephone answering service, you're in luck. Otherwise, you've got some work ahead of you. It's somewhat ironic that in a book about systems, the author does not provide a system to help you craft your own documents.

I'm giving it three stars and I still recommend getting it. It's an enjoyable read and will certainly help you get some new ideas. That's probably worth the price of the book. Just be aware that new ideas is about all you're going to get from this. It's mostly an introduction to systems thinking and an advertisement for the author's products and services. I plan to read another book in the hopes of getting some guidance on implementation.

Like most books of this style then content is really common sense but in many cases it is easily overlooked. This book focuses on the concept of breaking everything down into individual systems, then documenting and improving each part.

It is a simple message that after you finish reading the book you wonder how it could fill that many pages but there is plenty of other good information in and around the concept. In many cases it takes an outside perspective to actually help you see what needs to be done and make things plain. This book certainly achieved that for me.

The book is easy to read and contains plenty of examples that keep you engaged but I did feel that things were becoming a little drawn out towards the end. After I finished the book I felt that if I had simply read the conclusion I would have received most of what the rest of the book was saying. However, on reflection I think this book is one of those that you can put up on the shelf and revisit on a regular basis to help keep you on track.

Overall this book is a worthwhile read for those people running their own business who want to understand the process of constant improvement. It help open you eyes to fact that everything is a system and can therefore be taken apart, examined and improved. It can seem daunting at first glance having to do this but the book does say this should be an ongoing process that you don't have to get right on the first pass.

Again, a great business reference book to have in your reference library and revisit regularly to help you understand that things can usually be made much simpler than they appear.

Sam does a great job depicting his points and It was a REAL eye opener toward the concept of Systems and the system mindset.

My only gripe was that in several passages, I was forced to stop reading to find the definition of uncommon words that Sam used occasionally throughout the book but it was no more than 1% of the content of the book.

I found that kinda Ironic, Sam constantly promotes the concept of "Off-The-Street" simplicity, but the book didn't quite follow that mantra.

But I would definitely recommend this great book to anyone who seeks to understand not only business systems, but systems in general!

I enjoyed reading about Sam's life with his business and everything he did. There's nothing quite like being there and by reading Sam's book, I felt like I was there with him as he went through the many changes described in the book.

Most recently, a dear, trusted friend recommended Work the System - as she had just started reading it and applying the strategies to her business. I am a believer that we are "led to that which we we need next" - and, personally, this could not be more true for me. I found Sam Carpenter's personal story very "real", genuine, practical and perfectly simple/smart -- and something that I could relate to. His insight and lessons are applicable to both my home and work - and I am definitely seeing results from my initial efforts so far. Writing out and committing to Purpose, Methods/Values and Processes (in the most literal sense) are just what I needed to do - and it WORKS. It will be an ongoing road, but I enthusiastically see a path of productivity and satisfaction. I credit this this book (and perfect timing) to a new way of seeing things, applying myself, making progress/changes/growth and being better and happier for it. I recommend this book very highly.

I would recommend this book just for the way he takes his generation to task. His observations on the Woodstock generation are spot on. Having been in business I would really recommend this book to anyone who is in management or who runs a business of their own.